Scottsdale’s Hidden Championship Gem: Why The Stadium Course’s Real Defense Isn’t What You See on TV
When I walked onto the practice grounds at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course last November, three months before the 2026 WM Phoenix Open, I expected to find the usual suspects: those dramatic desert washes that bisect fairways like geographic fault lines, the water hazards that lurk menacingly on the back nine, and—at this time of year—the early skeleton structures of grandstands being erected for tournament week. What I didn’t expect was the rough.
But there it was: tall, lush, and absolutely punitive. This wasn’t the manicured rough you see on TV broadcasts, where pros still manage miraculous recovery shots. This was the kind of grass that swallows golf balls whole, that turns a one-yard miss into a two-stroke penalty waiting to happen. And remember—tournament week was still months away. The greens weren’t even running at full speed yet.
It’s a telling detail that television coverage has largely overlooked for years. The Stadium Course’s mythology centers on spectacle: the 250,000-person crowds, the water carries, the arroyos, the sheer theater of it all. But the real architecture lesson at work here is far more subtle, and far more effective.
When Rough Becomes the Course’s Real Teeth
What I discovered playing the Stadium Course is something that separates good championship designs from great ones: the ability to defend par through multiple layers of difficulty. The dramatic hazards and desert landscapes get all the attention—and rightfully so, they’re visually stunning. But it’s the rough that does the actual work of course management.
By maintaining that severe rough early in the season—months before the tournament even begins—TPC is sending a clear architectural message: miss the fairway, and you’re not recovering. This forces even the world’s best players to tee off conservatively, to think their way around the course rather than simply overpower it. The arroyos and water hazards become secondary concerns when the primary defense is simply finding short grass.
This is Pete Dye’s fingerprints all over the design philosophy. Dye, who co-designed the Stadium Course with Jay Morrish, built his reputation on courses that punish imprecision—not through baroque hazard placement, but through strategic fairway routing and penal rough. The Stadium Course follows that playbook precisely.
The Quiet Brilliance of the Champions Course
If the Stadium Course represents championship theater, then the Randy Heckenkemper-designed Champions Course offers a different kind of sophistication. Built on land that once hosted the Desert Course, this par-71 layout stretches just over 7,100 yards, yet it hosts the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on the Epson Tour—the developmental circuit for the LPGA.
The routing is relatively flat by Scottsdale standards, which might make it sound forgettable. It isn’t. What Heckenkemper understood is that elevation change isn’t the only way to create interest. The Champions Course threads through abundant cottonwood trees, which serve as both aesthetic anchors and strategic obstacles. These aren’t ornamental plantings—they’re design elements that force deliberate shot-making, that require players to shape shots and trust their skills rather than simply hitting bombs toward the green.
For the traveling golfer, this makes the Champions Course something of a secret. While everyone crowds around the Stadium for the PGA Tour event, the Champions offers a chance to play a legitimate championship layout without the circus, and without emptying your wallet quite as completely.
Tom Fazio’s Patient Approach at Grayhawk’s Raptor
A few miles across Scottsdale, the Raptor Course at Grayhawk represents Tom Fazio’s philosophy of patient, strategic design. At 7,151 yards, it’s not oversized for its par-72 layout, but the design is deceptive. Fazio has built generously wide fairways, but only if you know where they are.
“The previous championships, especially the recent NCAA Championships, revealed how hard the Raptor course can play for the best golfers in the world if we want to set it up that way.”
That quote from Travis McCutchan, the club’s assistant general manager, contains everything you need to know about why Fazio’s work endures. The course isn’t hard because it’s narrow. It’s hard because it demands decision-making. Amateurs can score here if they play smart, sticking to fairways and attacking pin positions from proper angles. But when the USGA turned up the screws for the NCAA Championships—as they did from 2021 to 2023—the Raptor showed its teeth. The desertscape becomes less forgiving. The generous fairways reveal their boundaries.
Drama Written in Elevation: Troon North’s Pinnacle Course
If you want to understand how elevation and terrain can transform a golf course from pleasant to unforgettable, play the Pinnacle Course at Troon North.
Tom Weiskopf designed both courses at Troon North, and while the Monument Course offers more forgiveness and wider fairways, it’s the Pinnacle that captures what makes desert golf in Arizona so dramatically different from courses elsewhere. The routing climbs and descends with theatrical purpose. Greens sit perched on hillsides, forcing players to commit to their approach shots or face significant recovery challenges. Tee shots occasionally launch from elevated vantage points, offering sweeping views of the surrounding landscape before bringing you back to earth—literally—for the approach.
The USGA used holes from both courses for the 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, but if you want the full Weiskopf experience, the Pinnacle is where the architect’s vision truly sings.
Where to Play: Accessibility and Value
Here’s what matters for the traveling golfer: Scottsdale offers championship-caliber golf at multiple price points and accessibility levels. Papago Golf Club, a municipal course designed by William Bell in 1964, remains one of the finest public-access courses in the state, having hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 1971. It stretches to nearly 6,900 yards from the blue tees, with four brutally demanding par-threes that make scoring par feel like an achievement.
“With five par fours playing less than 400 yards, the course serves up its fair share of scoring chances, but those opportunities are offset by four intimidating one-shotters that make par a highly attractive outcome.”
For resort golf, Wildfire’s Faldo Championship Course—yes, designed by six-time major champion Nick Faldo—draws inspiration from Australia’s famous Sandbelt courses, with 108 bunkers and expansive fairways that demand precision more than raw power.
The through-line connecting all these courses isn’t dramatic hazards or tricked-up rough. It’s strategic design that respects the golfer’s intelligence while demanding their best golf. That’s what makes Scottsdale worth the trip.
